Deuteronomy 27–30

Chapter 27

The Curses of Mount Ebal

¹Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I command you today.

²“^aSo it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime

³and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, ^aa land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, ¹promised you.

⁴“So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up ^aon Mount Ebal, these stones, ¹as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime.

⁵“Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you ^ashall not ¹wield an iron tool on them.

⁶“You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of ¹uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the Lord your God;

⁷and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and ^arejoice before the Lord your God.

⁸“You shall write on the ¹stones all the words of this law very distinctly.”

⁹Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God.

¹⁰“You shall therefore ¹obey the Lord your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today.”

¹¹Moses also charged the people on that day, saying,

¹²“When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on ^aMount Gerizim to bless the people: ^bSimeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

¹³“For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

¹⁴“The Levites shall then answer and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice,

¹⁵‘Cursed is the man who makes ^1aan idol or a molten image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And ^ball the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁶‘^aCursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁷‘^aCursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary mark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁸‘^aCursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

¹⁹‘^aCursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, ¹orphan, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁰‘^aCursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s skirt.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²¹‘^aCursed is he who lies with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²²‘^aCursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²³‘^aCursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁴‘^aCursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁵‘^aCursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

²⁶‘^aCursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Chapter 28

Blessings at Gerizim

¹“^aNow it shall be, if you diligently ¹obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God ^bwill set you high above all the nations of the earth.

²“All these blessings will come upon you and ^aovertake you if you ¹obey the Lord your God:

³“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be ^ain the ¹country.

⁴“Blessed shall be the ¹offspring of your ²body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

⁵“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

⁶“Blessed shall you be ^awhen you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

⁷“The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be ¹defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.

⁸“The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in ^aall that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

⁹“^aThe Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.

¹⁰“So all the peoples of the earth will see that ^1ayou are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you.

¹¹“^aThe Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the ¹offspring of your ²body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.

¹²“The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and ^ayou shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

¹³“^aThe Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to ¹observe them carefully,

¹⁴and ^ado not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Consequences of Disobedience

¹⁵“^aBut it shall come about, if you do not ¹obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶“^aCursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the ¹country.

¹⁷“^aCursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

¹⁸“^aCursed shall be the ¹offspring of your ²body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock.

¹⁹“^aCursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

²⁰“^aThe Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and ^brebuke, in all ¹you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until ^cyou perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me.

²¹“^aThe Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it.

²²“^aThe Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with ¹the sword and ^bwith blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until ^cyou perish.

²³“¹The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron.

²⁴“^aThe Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

²⁵“^aThe Lord shall cause you to be ¹defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will ^bbe an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁶“^aYour carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

²⁷“^aThe Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with ^btumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.

²⁸“The Lord will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart;

²⁹and you will ^1agrope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you.

³⁰“^aYou shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; ^byou shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not ¹use its fruit.

³¹“Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat of it; your donkey shall be torn away from you, and will not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you will have none to save you.

³²“^aYour sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and yearn for them continually; but there will be nothing ¹you can do.

³³“^aA people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually.

³⁴“You shall be driven mad by the sight of ¹what you see.

³⁵“^aThe Lord will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

³⁶“^aThe Lord will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, ^bwood and stone.

³⁷“^aYou shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the Lord drives you.

³⁸“^aYou shall bring out much seed to the field but you will gather in little, for ^bthe locust will consume it.

³⁹“^aYou shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you will neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm will devour them.

⁴⁰“^aYou shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off.

⁴¹“^aYou shall ¹have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity.

⁴²“^aThe cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground.

⁴³“^aThe alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower.

⁴⁴“^aHe shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; ^bhe shall be the head, and you will be the tail.

⁴⁵“So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you ^auntil you are destroyed, because you would not ¹obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.

⁴⁶“They shall become ^aa sign and a wonder on you and your ¹descendants forever.

⁴⁷“^aBecause you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things;

⁴⁸therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, ^ain hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He ^bwill put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed…